Use of ubiquitous materials for the estimation of accidental exposures

Incidents involving unexpected radiation exposure do take place due to human error, equipment failure or other reasons in spite of regulatory systems being in place. Medical physicists who are also radiation safety officers (RSO) of their institutions in several countries, like India, have the responsibility of radiation protection of the staff, carers and comforters of the patients, visitors and public at large, apart from ensuring patient-specific treatment planning for accurate dose delivery, adoption of optimized practices, and minimization of chances of radiation accidents in radiation therapy, radio-diagnostic, and nuclear medicine practices.